Colorado State University Athletics
Sunday, March 6
Phoenix, AZ
9:00 AM
Colorado State
at
Grand Canyon
Rams Head to Arizona for Sunday Double Dip
3/4/2022 3:00:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Team to face Grand Canyon, Arizona at different sites
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – This Sunday will not be a day of rest for Colorado State women's tennis.
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The team will head south this weekend to play a split twin bill of matches, facing Grand Canyon at 9 a.m., in Phoenix, then getting back in the team vans to head to Tucson to face No. 44 Arizona at 5:30 p.m. It's a unique schedule for a single day, but also a needed day of competition for a squad which was off last week after beating South Dakota on Feb. 20.
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The week off enabled the Rams to get some individual work in, while also allowing some nagging injuries to heal.
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"We only had GCU scheduled when I first came in, but I thought it would be worth making the trip to add another match. Thankfully Arizona is a great ranked team and I thought it would be a bonus to add t hem on, and they were happy to make the schedule work," CSU head coach Mai-Ly Tran said. "The doubleheader is tough in traveling to the other school, but I think we're up for the challenge.
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"Just waking up that day, I think you're in game mode. I think they'll be great in competing, then we'll grab lunch, get on the road and get in game mode again. I think we're grateful to compete any chance we get. We were off last weekend, so I think our girls love competition. Any matches we can get in, they're excited."
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Grand Canyon is 2-2 on the year, but will play a match today against Tarleton at home. The two teams did see each other early in the fall at the Beach Tennis Tournament, with the Rams going 2-0 in singles play, 1-1 in doubles against the Lopes. Arizona is ranked No. 44 in the latest ITA polls. Colorado State, 4-2 on the season, counters with the No. 52 doubles team of Radka Buzkova and Matea Mihaljevic. The Wildcats are 8-2 in dual play, coming off a victory over No. 41 Alabama. It will be a busy weekend for Arizona, which has matches against Washington State on Friday and No. 33 Washington on Saturday.
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The match with Arizona was added to the schedule Tran inherited, with the prospect of playing a ranked team high on her list of reasons. The Wildcats will be the third ranked team the Rams have faced this year, joining No. 17 Arizona State and No. 67 Nebraska, with future matches set against No. 38 Loyola Marymount and No. 59 Fresno State later in the spring.
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"We wanted more match play, and they're a good team. We wanted to get a great team on the schedule," Tran said. "We learn a lot more playing tough teams, but these are also opportunities for us to get ranked, and that's a goal for this team is to get ranked. The only way to do that is to beat some ranked teams."
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Radka Buzkova leads a trio of Rams who have posted double-digit wins in singles play, sitting at 13-4 on the year. Sarka Richterova is 11-6, while Somer Dalla-Bona is 10-9. Buzkova and Mihaljevic sit at 19 doubles wins this year. With one more win, each would rank seventh for the most doubles wins by a player in a single season; with to, they would tie for third.
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The team will head south this weekend to play a split twin bill of matches, facing Grand Canyon at 9 a.m., in Phoenix, then getting back in the team vans to head to Tucson to face No. 44 Arizona at 5:30 p.m. It's a unique schedule for a single day, but also a needed day of competition for a squad which was off last week after beating South Dakota on Feb. 20.
Â
The week off enabled the Rams to get some individual work in, while also allowing some nagging injuries to heal.
Â
"We only had GCU scheduled when I first came in, but I thought it would be worth making the trip to add another match. Thankfully Arizona is a great ranked team and I thought it would be a bonus to add t hem on, and they were happy to make the schedule work," CSU head coach Mai-Ly Tran said. "The doubleheader is tough in traveling to the other school, but I think we're up for the challenge.
Â
"Just waking up that day, I think you're in game mode. I think they'll be great in competing, then we'll grab lunch, get on the road and get in game mode again. I think we're grateful to compete any chance we get. We were off last weekend, so I think our girls love competition. Any matches we can get in, they're excited."
Â
Grand Canyon is 2-2 on the year, but will play a match today against Tarleton at home. The two teams did see each other early in the fall at the Beach Tennis Tournament, with the Rams going 2-0 in singles play, 1-1 in doubles against the Lopes. Arizona is ranked No. 44 in the latest ITA polls. Colorado State, 4-2 on the season, counters with the No. 52 doubles team of Radka Buzkova and Matea Mihaljevic. The Wildcats are 8-2 in dual play, coming off a victory over No. 41 Alabama. It will be a busy weekend for Arizona, which has matches against Washington State on Friday and No. 33 Washington on Saturday.
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The match with Arizona was added to the schedule Tran inherited, with the prospect of playing a ranked team high on her list of reasons. The Wildcats will be the third ranked team the Rams have faced this year, joining No. 17 Arizona State and No. 67 Nebraska, with future matches set against No. 38 Loyola Marymount and No. 59 Fresno State later in the spring.
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"We wanted more match play, and they're a good team. We wanted to get a great team on the schedule," Tran said. "We learn a lot more playing tough teams, but these are also opportunities for us to get ranked, and that's a goal for this team is to get ranked. The only way to do that is to beat some ranked teams."
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Radka Buzkova leads a trio of Rams who have posted double-digit wins in singles play, sitting at 13-4 on the year. Sarka Richterova is 11-6, while Somer Dalla-Bona is 10-9. Buzkova and Mihaljevic sit at 19 doubles wins this year. With one more win, each would rank seventh for the most doubles wins by a player in a single season; with to, they would tie for third.
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Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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